Teleconference: Fear and Anxiety
Posted 4/2/2009
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Virtually every woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer says that managing her fears and anxieties is the most difficult part of the experience. Sure, there are physical challenges, and most of us struggle, to a greater or lesser degree, with recovery from surgery and side effects from chemotherapy and/or radiation. Physical complaints, however, are concrete and real and can usually be understood and managed. After a couple of cycles of chemotherapy, for example, we figure out how we are likely to feel and which days will be toughest.
Trying to contain our anxiety is much harder and less predictable. We expect to be anxious before surgery or before a first radiation treatment or chemotherapy with a new drug. We can't always know when fear will leap out of a dark corner. One woman described it as: "a wild animal on my back, nails digging in and never letting go." You might be interested in reading one of my first blogs which was about fear.
You might also be interested in participating in a free teleconference offered by BreastCancer.org on Wednesday, April 29th between 8:30 and 10:00 PM. For more information:
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